Mocking Jay
by My Vantilene
Summary: "I'm sorry, I – um, how old are you?"  His lips curled into a smile, but he refrained from giving off his notorious cackle, which would most definitely blow his cover, so instead he replied, "Age is just a number, m'dear."
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Need I say more?

_So I'm kind of taking a risk, putting this in the crossover section. I mean, who reads the crossover section? Eh, too much work. If this doesn't get at least one review, I'm switching it to the YJ sections cause they review waaaaaaaay more than people in the KH section._

Chapter I: Maybe it's Maybelline

Robin sat on the rocky edges of Mount Justice, baby blues boring into the shimmering water as he threw rocks off the edge and frowned as they splashed into it, creating tiny ripples. He was absolutely sick with the new couple bickering, Miss Martian goggling over Superboy (which was painfully obvious), and Kaldur moping over Tula. Why was everyone so concerned with falling in or out of love? He had asked Wally, but all he did was ruffle his hair and tell him he would understand when he was older. He angrily threw another rock into the ocean. He absolutely _hated_ when Wally did that. When anyone did that. But Wally was his best friend. His dim-witted best friend who thought Artemis had cooties before they had a big argument that ended with major lip-locking. _That _was the Wally he knew. When they were younger, he had never made any comments about their age difference. When Wally turned thirteen and shot up, he only made comments on Robin's height, never his age. (Truth be told, Robin thought he'd be a lot taller when he turned thirteen.) He was really the only one. Speedy had asked him if it was past his bedtime on several occasions. Black Canary nicknamed him Babes (which did not refer to a pretty-looking girl, but an embryonic infant). And he had been known as Baby of the League for quite some time [_And apparently an author at wrote about him being the baby of the team, and when a baby gets upset, you can't help but placate them. Don't ya think the Boy Wonder deserves more respect than that?_]. He didn't mind it when he was nine, but, after all he'd been through (witnessing his parent's murder, being beaten nearly to death) how smart he had really become (his advanced hacking skills and computer knowledge, the fact he'd skipped a couple grades, his position as captain of the mathletes) and his physical capability (his ability as a gymnast and an acrobat, that could easily win gold at the Olympics) he deserved to at least be considered a teenager. But of course even that was a stretch. Nope, he wasn't the youngest of the League, he was the baby. He chucked another rock into the water and stood up, brushing himself off as he walked toward the cave.

~*~MAYBE~*~IT'S~*~MAYBELLINE~*~

When he walked into the "living room," he was surprised to see Wally was – get this – NOT meshing his lips into Artemis's face.

"Hey." He greeted, upon seeing Robin enter.

"Hey." He repeated with a darker tone, plopping down next to him on the couch.

"Oooh, someone's moody."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He replied, more interested in what the news anchor had to say.

"…Reporter Semaj Naps, here, on scene where a Dr. M. J. Gregory was apprehended by the police for robbing Gotham City Bank. However, before officers could get to Gregory, a masked girl," suddenly a figure, who surely fit the man's description with being both female and masked stepped forward.

"My name is Mocking Jay." She announced, then scurried out of sight, a smug smile giving away she was pleased with getting her name out.

"Well, that was most rewarding. There you have it. Mocking Jay. A new vigilante or just a one-hit-wonder? Only time will tell," here Robin did a face-palm at the choice of words, "This has been Semaj Naps, now back to you, in the studio."

"Thanks Semaj, we now turn to meteorologist James Span…" Robin walked away, losing interest in the show. After all, everyone's talking 'bout the weather.

~*~MAYBE~*~IT'S~*~MAYBELLINE~*~

Richard Grayson walked with the small current of students that coursed through the hallways of Gotham City Academy, assuming his normal melt-into-the-crowd position. He really didn't have any friends at the school, what with Bruce's strict rules and the possibility of something leaking, but merely acquaintances he would wave to or acknowledge with a nod when passing in the hallway. But of course no one knew he had no actual friends, so when you saw a kid like that strolling down the corridors of the private school, it seemed as if he had more than enough. And that's exactly what everybody thought. So technically, he wasn't an outcast there. Just normal, melt-into-the-crowd Grayson. But it really wasn't always like that. He was a smart kid, but barely thirteen, and as I'm sure some of you can guess, not many sophomores like having a child protégé in their mist, so he wasn't exactly welcomed with open arms into the 10th grade. Well, with the exception of the girls, they ate that kind of stuff up. They would randomly come up and hug him, or ruffle his hair. Which he was annoyed at, and it only made the male demographic dislike him even more. He thought he had problems with the Justice League before! They were relentless! But eventually they got the message and got used to having him around and his popularity faded. Somehow, he had never been gladder.

But now, he was on his way to show around two new girls. He rolled his eyes at the thought. He was probably going to have to deal with that all over again. And I know you guys are probably wondering, why Dick? Well, besides the plot spiraling ahead depending on this, none of the seniors could do it. They all had Senioritis. Juniors were in the middle of semester exams. Freshman were too young. So that left sophomores. But half the kids would be away on a field trip for the next three days, leaving 25% of the sophomore population behind. Then of course, during a field trip only 50% of that original 25% bothers to show up to school. So what would that leave the percent at? 12.5% (no thanks to an inconclusive calculator :/) Notice how I said small current? Yeah, of that 12.5%, 50% of that would be girls. And the principal just happens to be a male chauvinist. And the other 49.99% (I know my math is crap on that one but I don't know how many kids were there to begin with) happen to be males and the only reason they were not on the field trip was because they had ISS. (The part that just didn't go for no reason are probably at home.)Therefore, Dick was the only option. So he said a quick prayer before meeting the two new students at the front of the school. Once he got a glimpse of the two, he was shell-shocked. His face was caught between surprise and a nervous laugh.

The first girl, truthfully, he didn't know. Didn't even have a clue, but man! He surely didn't believe in love at first sight – but dang! Beguiling smile, enthralling azure eyes, dark lashes thicker than most, cheek bones (as Keenan would put it) like perfect sugar plums, with a dynamic jaw line, implausibly skinny waist, legs a mocha, creamy color, smooth and shining, lips almost tantalizing with a rosy hue and full stature, but there was something off about her. Something he had only seen in comics and animes. Her hair was short, but not boyish short, long enough to look fiercely (despite her soft expression) feminine, and it had been styled somewhat oddly, sloping upward in certain places, coming to a sharp point in others, and it was blue. Her hair was blue, like Caribbean water you only see in commercials blue. It was startling. But before he could guess Splat or Manic Panic, he knew he had to introduce himself, though the other girl already knew him. Well, she knew the Robin him.

Yup, standing next to the blue beauty was Oliver Queen's "niece." Though both in the same private school attire, somehow it looked better on the other girl. Maybe if Dick didn't find her being there a surprise, she would've faded into the background next to the bluenette. But now, somehow his attention was diverted and his eyes flitted to the archer. Man, wait till Wally heard about this!

"Hello," he finally greeted, approaching them, "I'm Dick Grayson and I'll be showing you two around for the day." He explained, holding out an amiable hand. Artemis let out a sharp snort. The other girl gave her a look, silencing her and making her feel guilty about insulting the boy who could possibly tell her the wrong schedule if he wanted to.

"I'm sorry, I – um, how old are you?"

His lips curled into a smile, but he refrained from giving off his notorious cackle, which would most definitely blow his cover, so instead he replied, "Age is just a number, m'dear."

"Well," the sky-haired teen interjected, "Nice to meet you, Dick. I'm–" she gave Artemis another look as she reached for Richard's outstretched hand.

"Aqua." Artemis replied, as their hands met (Who knew hands could be so soft?), "her name is Aqua. I'm Artemis. Artemis Crock." She stuck out a hand and Dick leisurely (and reluctantly) let go of Aqua's and shook hers.

"Great now that we're acquainted, would you mind following me? Homeroom is in ten minutes. They both nodded and trailed after him, glancing over the school, perusing, not only the facility, but also the small boy whom served as their guide. Okay, laugh. Because whom is a funny word, I'll admit it.

"You look familiar." Aqua claimed brusquely.

"Is that so?" he inquired, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Yeah. It's your eyes. I swear I've seen them before."

It was his turn to release a sharp snort.

"What?"

"No one ever remembers me by my eyes."

"Well, why not?" a temporary sun burn washed over her cheeks in a warm glow, "Your eyes are beautiful." Artemis elbowed her.

"What was that for?" she yelped in surprise. The archer gave her a petulant look.

"Oh, I'm sorry, was that offensive? I didn't mean it like that, I – uh, meant they were handsome, not beautiful."

Dick just smiled wider, "Oh, no need to apologize; I'm fine."

She sighed a sigh of relief.

"Well, Miss Congeniality over here has a point. I think you look familiar too."

"How so?" She didn't answer for some time, probably lost in thought.

The trio walked on in comfortable silence.

"You're really small." Aqua concluded bluntly, like she was thinking of all the ways she might know him in her head, but just that one statement flew out of her mouth.

"I'm not that short." He claimed without a trace of defensive nature in his tone.

"Oh, I didn't mean to be rude, just – not short, but small, well, no, it's just like someone I know." She pursed her lips and her eyebrows furrowed, "You sound awfully like him too."

"Well, I'm sure your friend, as well as I, isn't really short. We're just fun-sized." She laughed softly, making her sharp hair bounce, catching the light as it moved.

"Well, this is where your lockers are." He swung his hands to advertise the designated locker area.

"Aqua," he began, looking at the paper in his hand, "your locker number is 1467 and the combination is 08-13-02. Artemis, your locker number is 1498 and the combination is 06-14-09. I'm locker 1426, if you need anything, between classes, you'll find me there. Now, these are your schedules. Your homeroom is determined by alphabetical order, on the last name variable. So, Crock, you're with Mrs. Barnes for homeroom. But Aqua, I'm not sure what's wrong with your application, but your homeroom has been…" he examined it closer, "…left blank." He gave a confused look, then offered, "You could just come with me to my homeroom, or to Artemis's, which ever one you would feel most comfortable." She glanced between the two, her eyes locking with Artemis's as she gave a curt nod.

"I'll…I'll go with you." She decided.

"Alright then, just get your stuff from your locker and I'll show you the way."

"I…I'd like that." She smiled.

~*~MAYBE~*~IT'S~*~MAYBELLINE~*~

Robin plopped down on the couch with utter bliss taking him over. He sighed melodiously.

"Why are you in such a good mood?" Kid Flash, who was sitting on the couch as well, asked.

"Girls."

"Whoa – what?"

"My bad, girl. As in singular."

"Singular as in single?"

"Not for long, my friend. Not. For. Long."

"Care. To. Ex. Plain?" he sounded out with a staccato beat.

"New girl at my school. Got to show her around the whole day, have lunch, and when we missed the bus," he lied (he didn't take the bus, Alfred drove him, but was helping Barbara with something that day, so he was going to naturally take the bus. _Was._), "I got to walk her home."

"Dude. Score."

"Oh! And there's one more thing I forgot! Along with her was–"

"Ugh!" there was a loud grunt and a small thud.

"That sounded like Artemis." Wally concluded.

"I got it." He assured him, standing up to check on the problem. KF was feeling pretty passive, so he flippantly waved off the fact Robin was checking on _his_ girlfriend instead of himself.

Even though the door was open, and the scene was apparent to him, he softly wrapped on the side of the door.

"Everything okay in here?"

"Sorry," she apologized, shuffling the calculus book into her arms, "I don't know. This stuff is just really, _really _hard." When he didn't leave from the threshold she gave him a stare.

"You know you can go now."

"But if I left, who would help you with the calculus?" Her face lit up.

"Really? You'd do that?"

"Sure, why not? We're a team, aren't we?"

Then it suddenly hit her. His age. He shouldn't be any better at calculus than she was.

He read the expression on her face and replied,

"I configured the security at Watchtower, I fix it if it has any problems, I've hacked into security systems trickier than it without a second thought. I think I can handle 10th grade calculus."

"Thanks." She smiled, scratching the back of her neck.

"Don't mention it." He shrugged, taking the calculus book in his hands.

~*~MAYBE~*~IT'S~*~MAYBELLINE~*~

Batman sat with Superman, J'onn, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Aquaman as they stared at the tape, which had been put on loop.

"Have we all reached a decision?"

Everyone solemnly nodded. As if they hadn't already taken action.

_AN:_

_Alright, for those who don't know Aqua, she is, in fact, not an OC. Let's just get that straight. Now, I have a very special update system for this one. If I get at least one review, I will continue writing this story. Now, updates might be spaced out cause I'm working on – Holy Crap! – 10 other different projects. I actually think I'm going to upload this one soon (not really sure, though). Lately, I've been writing one chapter to go with one story, and then not really finishing a corresponding chapter, so I'm going to have to get on that. Now, sure, yeah, if I get a review, I'm going to see this one through. If someone alerts, I'll write two chapters in the amount of time it would take to make one. If someone favorites, I'll write three. If someone adds me as an author to favorites, I will write four chapters with in the time span of a week. And if someone reviews and tells me how the name of the reporter is special, they get an AMAmazing* mystery prize._

_*AMAmazing, derived from the band name AMA, said for publicity recognition _


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: CN owns YJ, Oprah owns Dr. Phil, Square Enix owns FF and KH, Wal-Mart owns everything, and I own squat.

_OMSG! Thanks BlackMarionette for reviewing, not one, but two of my stories. Love ya guys, but there is still a slight chance this will be taken out of the crossover section._

Chapter II: Benediction

"Who's that?" Wally – now Kid Flash – asked, elatedly staring at the screen in the debriefing room.

"Lightning. We have reason to believe she is working for the Light. Now, while her civilian ID was easy to find, she is not."

"Wait, what's her civilian ID?"

"Claire Farron." Batman replied curtly. But, of course, the Flash had to go and drag it out, elongating the debriefing, causing Batman to wonder why he was even there in the first place.

"Oh, it was so easy. I mean who else has pink hair like that? And she dresses like a friggin'," Batman shuttered at the vernacular, "steam punk chic! I swear the only difference between her in the field and out is the red cape. [_Anyone else finding Lightning's cape ironic? And while I've still go this thing up…Lightning, much like Aqua, is not an OC. Lightning is from Final Fantasy XIII, Aqua is from Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, the two other people that will be introduced later this chap, and Mocking Jay is not an OC. Her identity will be revealed in time. If this remains in the crossover section, this might be pointless, but odds are it won't so I need to clarify these things._] She doesn't even wear a mask! How unprofessional!"

"Like you're being right now?" Batman inquired, with a raised eyebrow, but other than that (and his choice of words, of course) you couldn't sense he was harried in the slightest. He just looked so calm. Flash rolled his eyes and Batman continued.

"Yes. Her ID was easy to find, but she's never at any of her addresses, places of work, we've even patrolled the apartment she pays rent for and she has yet to show up. We have other business to deal with, so we are handing over this case to you. We have some intel," he gestured to the screen that showcased her profile, "But we need you to gather the rest and act upon it."

After a pause, Wally still had a shocked expression on his face.

"You – you're serious?"

"Quite. But there is a catch."

"Awwwww," Wally whined, earning him a chastising look from both Batman and Robin. Batman paused a good five minutes, letting Wally soak in how annoyed he was with not only him, but his uncle as well.

"You have a new, temporary teammate. She has some experience with the aforementioned target, so she will be of great assistance. She is a rogue vigilante, so her chances of staying are slim, however, have not been denied. Behave, Kid Flash, make her time here enjoyable, she could be a valuable asset in the future and it would be very beneficial to have her join this team."

"So who is this chic?" Batman looked to the shadows of the room and none other than Mocking Jay emerged to greet the team.

"This is Mocking Jay, some of you may have seen her from police reports. She had a rather…_negative_ view on the Justice League, so I expect her to be welcomed here, understood?" 'Understood' was spoken like 'Which would you want more, your epitaph or obituary?' while the scowl said, 'Cause I don't have time to write both.'

"Yessir!" Wally piped up immediately. He inwardly rolled his eyes then followed the Flash out of the cave. Robin did a once-over of the new recruit. She was hooded in a died-blue-Kevlar-like material that branched off into a mini-cloak, ending just below her shoulders, the ends looked like the wings of bats, and it tied together with a metallic, straight-lined symbol, making a sort of heart with three spiky points on the end, resembling the leafy part of a missile-toe. The cloak split at her collarbone and curtained around her chest, where it had a bluish grey undershirt and a plum-color that covered half. It cut off there, and her abdomen was nearly bare, had it not been for the strip of cloth hanging from the top left of her side, cascading down to the bottom part of her right side in a very crescendo-like manner. The top side was laced with small, white bows and the bottom half was thinner and tied with white stitches to the inside of her black spandex-shorts. She had a bulky, black utility belt that tilted down her left side. Coming from the belt were two white extensions of her onyx shorts, hanging down like a cape. Her feet sported strappy-armored boots. However, that's all he could be sure of, her hood covered her eyes.

"Hey, name's Kid Flash, but you can call me KF." She looked inquisitively at the man next to him.

"Superboy." She nodded again.

"And I'm M'gann, but you can call me Megan."

"My name's Kaldur, and I look forward to our shared time on this mission."

"Artemis." The green-clad archer gave her a very untrusting look.

"I'm Robin, acrobat, gymnast, scholar, and computer extraordinaire." He stuck out a hand. She shook it timidly. Then she gave a smile and a wave, as if saying hello.

"If you don't mind me asking, MJ, do you talk?"

She smiled and took a wiry device out of her utility belt, placing it somewhere inside the hood. Robin recognized it as a voice-changing appliance.

"Yes." Came a highly distorted voice.

"You really don't trust us that much?"

"No, it's just – I would like my identity to stay a secret."

"Haha!" Robin's notorious laugh rang out, "Kid Flash, here, only has goggles and no one's figured out his Civ. ID."

"I just – don't want to take any chances."

"'Kay," he threw his hands up with a smirk, "I get it. We won't hound you. I'm just glad you're here. I'm just wondering…why do you have," here he did his best Batman impersonation, "a _negative _view of the Justice League?"

"They put there headquarters right in the view of the public! I mean are you guys really that narcissistic?"

Robin stole a side-glanced from Kaldur,

"Should we tell her?"

After a pause, the aquatic boy nodded.

"That one's a decoy. Our real base is…" he paused, "not there."

"Well, if I was considering joining, I'd have to take in account the politics."

"Politics?"

"You know, Superman's done this, Batman's done this, Red Arrow's living in a bucket, Kid Flash is bi, I mean everything you do is out there in the media."

"Wh-wha? Wait, I'm not bi, what the he–"

"Save it, Flash Boy, I made that one up." She smiled.

"Whew, good, I was about to say–"

"Actually I think I read it on a site one time…"

"Dude! What's wrong with people?"

"Calm down, they're all fangirls. It's some fanfiction site."

"Who would write fanfiction about–"

"Like, I said, calm down. Anyways, that's probably the main reason, but right now we need to get on this Lightning case."

~*~BENEDICTION~*~

_Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic–_

_Kid Idiot, we can hear your thoughts. Megan's got us on link right now. _Robin thought, truly exasperated.

_You can't tell me you're not feeling the slightest bit of alarm at the moment? _He watched from the bushes as Mocking Jay took more baby steps towards the fallen enemy.

It had come out of nowhere, really. The mission they were on was recon because with the gathered information, they were still coming up short. Kaldur said they couldn't engage until they had acquired more intel. So they were staking out the apartment. And out of _nowhere_, two blonde boys, around Kid Flash's age, but certainly not his height, jumped out at them. The duo both had key-shaped swords, one had a straight-lined metallically blue key-sword and a red hammer-like one, while the other boy had a dark one with chains and a light one with intricate circlets at the top, a gold and blue color. Much to Wally's dismay, they attacked Artemis first, mimicking her bow and arrow by taking one of the key-swords and holding it like the bow, while bending the other one back, like and arrow. Except instead of the weapon itself flying, sparks of purple, black, white, and blue rained down on her. She soon was not a threat to them anymore.

There was a fizzle of light and they were both gone.

"What the–" Poor KF didn't even get to finish his sentence. They were on him like butter on toast.

Okay, snicker. Because that saying is just retarded.

He soon fell.

"Mas y Menos?" Robin opened his eyes wide when he saw their super speed.

But that was soon over and they moved onto Kaldur. I don't feel like describing the new weapons they summoned, but one's Crab Claw, the other one's the one you get when you reach the Final Episode of BBS.

Kaldur was a goner in a matter of seconds.

Superboy and Robin hid behind the bushes. Mocking Jay walked forward and lifted a hand. They both immediately fell. And now she was slowly walking towards them.

_KF, that is the best grammar I've ever heard you use in a sentence. I'm so proud. Now can we focus on the task at hand?_

She started walking towards the blonde boy on the left. She knelt down and ran a hand across his cheek. In a flurry of ice, he was gone, and so was the boy next to him, all that was left was a girl with short, black hair collapsed on the floor. Mocking Jay quickly stood up, and staggered away, her mouth in a frigid straight line.

"We should take her." She finally spoke.

"Why?"

"For questioning. I can promise you, we'll get a lot of answers.

~*~BENEDICTION~*~

Lightning was pacing about the boy strapped in to delicate, porcelain chair in a rather torpid manner, her slight goaded state, turning to full irritation the more she thought.

"You're really worthless, you know that?"

He nodded solemnly.

"Good. I don't know why I'm telling you this, but our illusionist has been…apprehended. Not that it mattered. We've still got you. And surely you won't let us down, right?"

There came no reply from the boy.

"Right…?" she asked one more time, grinding her teeth so much the prisoner could hear the unnerving sound. He covered his ears and winced.

"Yes, Mam!" he cried, urgent to make the noise stop.

"Good." She ruffled his hair, then continued pacing.

"Could I…see her…one last time?"

"Oh, you'll see her," she laughed. He looked horrified so she continued, "Oh, no, kid, not like that. We're not going to kill her or anything. I just find it funny the scenario." He still looked at her side-ways, "I mean normally it's normally the princess that's locked at the highest tower. And it's normally the prince who saves the princess. And the prince normally wins against the dragon guarding the princess. So I can't wait to see this twisted fairy tale play out."  
"Shut up!"

"Oh, so now the princess grows a pair?"

"Don't make me say it again." He growled.

"Is that a threat?" she punched him square in the jaw and inwardly winced at the blood that sprung, but tried hard not to show it, "Listen, Princess. I'd love to share with you all the ways you could end up not breathing when Miss Prince comes, but I have business to take care of." And with that, she stalked off, leaving the injured boy alone in the highest tower.

_AN: Okay, let's get this straight. The two blonde boys – Ventus and Roxas. Their starting keyblades – Roxas – Oblivion and Oathkeeper – Ventus – Rainfall and Earth Shaker (I think that's the name, it's Terra's keyblade). And yes I know what these [] mean. I just choose to abuse them. :D Anyway, I hope SincerelyMNM reads this. Mostly because I saw her profile pic and that thing is hilarious. I'd put the link in here for another one (it's got Robin as Roxas and Wally as Axel) but does not work like that. And I have the ambition to draw a Terra (TT) meets Terra (KH) drawing. And no, Mocking Jay is not who you think she is..._


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimers: Me owning something? Ed getting a quarter? Peter Petrelli NOT being the hottest man on the planet? Mary-sues? Jesse McCartney NOT voicing everything I know and love (he even got to the chipmunks!)? Mitchell Musso voicing Aang? M. Knight Shayman being a genius? Glob no.

_So. You guys are AMAmazing. Need I say more? _

_Oh, well, actually, I kind of do. This chapter's weird, because of the constant time-jumping, so there will be a time after the border._

Chapter III: Be My Escape

9:00 AM

The golden keys in Roxas's hands shook uncontrollably, his fingers rattling with his thoughts. No, it wasn't because of how highly medicated he was. It wasn't because of the burden of another man's life on his shoulders. Not because his beloved was no where to be found. And it certainly wasn't because of the betrayal he had felt indirectly through him.

It was the _fear_.

It vehemently permeated his clear conscious, making him unaware of what was happening. It mangled his speech, making him slur the words "Move or die" to the security guard standing post on the corridor. But no matter how enigmatic everything was to him, he felt his clandestine plan, that was even a secret to him, was still infallible. So he just kept walking, the only sign he was unsure about everything coming in the gesture of his jumbling keys, flipping and twisting, clinging and clanging, causing a discordant jangle. But he wasn't even conscious enough to hear it. The fear was pumping lividly through his blood, causing it to spread throughout his body, making his next moves incoherent to all but his subconscious. And what exactly did this fear come from that distorted Roxas into this hysterical sycophant? It wasn't the fear in knowing his beloved was no where to be found. It was in the fear of the words he said just before she went missing. And somehow, with bottomless gaps that added room for speculation, he was launched into this state with what one would think they could get over with ice cream and a good copy of _Sleepless in Seattle_. Would he ever get to hold her in his arms, kiss her snow-white forehead, see the inquisitive nature of her cerulean eyes again? What if she never wanted him back? She was his world, and now, that world was caving in, ending right before his eyes. Besides, wouldn't you act the same if the sky began to fall? And while he was wrapped up in his herculean apocalyptic fears, he didn't hear the cries of his younger brother hugging him with joy.

And right then, Ventus was very happy about the discordant jangle that had helped him escape.

And, Ven with his monumental jubilee and Roxas with his evocative melancholy, surely neither one the..._interruption_.

~*~BE~*~MY~*~ESCAPE~*~

8:00 PM

"So, uh…what do we do with her?" Wally asked, staring through the one way glass at their hostage.

"Let me interrogate her." Mocking Jay suggested authoritatively.

"I'll help." Robin beamed, "I watch a lot of CSI."

"Okay." Mocking Jay shrugged, walking past the doors and into the grey room.

The girl acknowledged their presence with a glare.

"You got a name?" Robin asked, sitting down in one of the chairs assembled around the steel table.

"Xion." She growled.

"Xion. You want to tell me what you were doing at Claire Farron's apartment, summoning illusions?" She looked directly at Mocking Jay.

"They weren't illusions."

"I think they were."

She was still staring at Mocking Jay, "Illusions don't pack that hard of a punch."

"She has a point." She claimed distantly.  
"Get your head out of the clouds, MJ, we're just getting warmed up here."

"Alright, maybe you watch too much CSI."

"Well then," He ignored the comment and leaned in towards Xion, "what were you doing there?" Her eyes softened and became rather foggy.

"I'll make a deal with you," she began, her voice anomaly saccharine, "if you help me save someone, I'll tell you what you need to know to catch Claire."

~*~BE~*~MY~*~ESCAPE~*~

7:30 PM

Superboy looked down at the girl in his arms. She looked too fragile and small to be a threat, yet somehow, she had caused him to hide in the bushes. No, not hide, _wait_ he was _waiting _in the bushes. Superboy didn't hide. Especially from girls. Especially girls with shiny onyx hair and unbelievably mesmeric azure eyes. She squirmed in closer to his chest as he carried her into the Mt. Justice interrogation room. She awoke somewhat and moved to get comfortable in the chair, and when he glanced back he noticed she was shivering. He thought a moment, then removed his shirt, placing it on the miniscule girl, a slight smile playing on his lips as he left.

~*~BE~*~MY~*~ESCAPE~*~

8:30 PM

Xion walked close to the rocky shore of Mt. Justice and picked up a rock, proceeding to skip it into the dark waters. She could feel Kaldur's eyes on her, making sure she didn't try anything, but she was trying to focus more of her attention on another certain pair of orbs. She sat down and dangled her legs off the side, kicking them back and forth childishly.

"What you're doing is dangerous." Came a deep voice, Superboy sitting next to her.

"I won't fall off, you know."

"Not that. You're wandering out over here, so me and Aqualad have to be taken off the mission to watch you."

"Oh. Sorry." She turned away, "But I hope you know I'm not on anyone's side. I just want my friend back safe. I honestly didn't know who you were."

"I'm Conner." He stuck out a hand.

She laughed sweetly as she took his it, "Thank you. No one else seemed to take the liberty. I'm Xion."

"Like Zion?"

"What do you mean?"

"Zion. They're experiments being done by LuthorCorp."

"No, my name's Xion."

"Oh. I was part of Cadmus." She swung her head back around, cobalt eyes wide.

"You're a clone?"

"Yes." He answered, malice in his voice and anger in his eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just surprised. You just – you look too perfect to be a clone."

"Hmmm."

"I'm sorry, I'm making things awkward. You can join your aquatic friend now if you want."

"Nah." She was surprised by the softness in his voice, "I don't enjoy water."

There was a pause.

"So you're and illusion-master?"

"Hardly." She shrugged, "Or rather, yeah. I just don't like to be."

"So," he clamped a hand down on her arm, "Are you an illusion?"

"Uh-uh. I'm not going anywhere…but, I could change into something…" her skin grew green, her eyes golden, hair red, and legs taller, garbed in Martian clothes, "more your style…it's my specialty, really, changing to fit other people's volitions. If you have to stay behind from your mission it's the least I could do."

~*~BE~*~MY~*~ESCAPE~*~

8:15 PM

Xion was chained to the chair in the interrogation room, listening intently to the voices on the outside of the glass. Using her illusions, she was able to construct a functioning hearing-aid that helped a little.

"Oh, hey, Superboy. What, uh, happened to your shirt?" It was the Martian. She had that sickly-sweet voice.

"She was cold."

"Oh." Her voice was flat, an interesting contrast to how sugary it had been just moments before.

"You look upset. Is there something wrong?"

"No – no it's just, the mission. I kind of have to go soon."

"How soon?" he asked urgently.

"Oh, Superboy, you worry too much, I'll be fine."

"Good. I don't want you getting hurt. I should be there to protect you!" he exclaimed angrily, throwing his fist at the wall.

"But you're needed here to make sure she doesn't try anything. Thanks, but there's really no need to worry about me. And promise me you won't hurt anyone while I'm gone, okay?"

"I promise. Anything for you."

~*~BE~*~MY~*~ESCAPE~*~

8:31 PM

"…it's my specialty, really, changing to fit other people's volitions. If you have to stay behind from your mission it's the least I could do." The hand that was clamped to her, squeezed harder. She yelped from the sudden amount of pressure and out of reflexes changed back to her original from. He let go and she rubbed her arm where a large, red welt had formed.

"Don't."

"I'm sorry," she cried, a torn edge in her voice, "I'm sorry, I – that normally helps, I just and – I'll go back into the grey room now." She stood up, but once again Superboy's arm was on her, pulling her back down to a sitting position. Her light form shook. There were tears in her eyes, and he winced once they glinted off a moonbeam.

"Don't. You don't have to change for me."

~*~BE~*~MY~*~ESCAPE~*~

8:55 PM

_I think we should try and get it in from the thirtieth floor, that way we won't have the security on us as fast and we can get to our target sooner. _Robin suggested via M'gann's link as the bio-ship zoomed closer to their destination.

_I think leaving Aqualad behind was a mistake. _Artemis scoffed.

_Well, what's done is done. He's not here._

_Still doesn't change how I feel._

_And I suppose you have a plan?_

_No, but–_

_KF, you can speed up the building faster than gravity, so you shouldn't have a problem. Miss M can fly. Artemis can use her arrows to scale the side and I can you my grappling hook to swoop in from the top of the building next to it. And I'm guessing MJ has a trick up her sleeve? _He expected and answer from her, but when he turned around she was looking out the window aimlessly.

_She's not in the link, Robin. _The voice was Miss Martian's, _I'm afraid her mind's resisting. _

_Then maybe she can keep watch on ground level and warn us if there's any trouble._

_I still don't like this plan, Rob. _

_Why?_

_You of all people should know those grappling hooks, when they snag onto weak metal, can fail._

_I've been jumping around Gotham with it and haven't had any problems. Not once. I'm sure I can make it._

_Well I'm not._

_KF!_

_Don't take it personally, I just think maybe we should attack from the ground. It'd be way easier that way and there'd be no risks._

_But it would take longer and we _would _run the risk of being taken down. With this we have the element of surprise. _The bio-ship came to a stop on top of the roof of the building next to Lightning's apartment.

_I have to agree with Kid Flash, this time, Robin. He does make a good point._

_Oh, come on, Miss M you know I can take care of myself._

She was silent. They looked at the building from the safety of Megan's camouflage.

_What about you, Artemis, you know this could work._

_Albeit, I have scaled buildings with arrows before, I still don't like this plan._

_Oh, come on! What about MJ? Shouldn't we–_

_No! _All three voices came.

_You guys are really hard-headed, aren't you?  
It's not that we're hard-headed, Rob, we just don't want to have any wholes. _

_What if you miss?_

_I won't miss._

_But what if you do?_

_Then I'll grapple onto something else before I fall._

_I'm still not sure._

_Well, since Aqualad's not here, no one's really in charge of anything…I'll be using my grappling hook._

_I still don't think it's safe…_

_And yet you're okay with Artemis climbing up with arrows?_

_She has experience._

_So do I! Four years of it!_

_That doesn't mean you're perfect at it._

_Whatever, KF. We'll just attack from ground level and get killed again, happy?_

_It's better than taking that huge of a risk._

_You guys are talking in circles. Let the kid do his stunt._ They all whipped their heads around, surprised to see Mocking Jay staring at them.

_What? I kinda picked up on the telepathy thing once I noticed Robin looking defensive and M'gann looking concerned._

_I told you guys we should have asked her opinion…_

_Shut up, Robin, we're not doing your plan, okay? _Kid Flash just yelled. Mocking Jay gave him what came close to bat-glare and took a grappling hook out of her own belt. She shot it at a piece of the other roof and looked to Robin.

_You coming? _He smiled, shot his grappling hook near the same vicinity, gave a light wave to the rest of his team and then they both were off.

~*~BE~*~MY~*~ESCAPE~*~

9:02 PM

"Hey! What are you doing here?" Roxas turned to the blue-cloaked girl, then to the younger boy she was traveling with.

"And who's that?"

_Who are these people?_

_They're innocent captives. They– _Her thoughts were interrupted my the sound of shooting. Bullets rang through her ears and penetrated the white door that held them in the room. They chopped up the wood, sending splinters flying. A boot finally kicked down the door, and there stood Lightning and a man with an eye-patch, who supposedly was the one firing.

"These are them." Lightning confirmed to the gunner. He smiled.

"Come with us!" Robin told the two blonde boys, taking the older one's hand as Mocking Jay stood still.

_I'm going to fight them._

_I'll try and get them to safety, I'll tell the rest where you are._

"So. You're with the kiddie league?" she laughed, "Prestigious."

"Hold on to me!" Robin called to the blonde boy as they both flew away into the dark night on the cable.

~*~BE~*~MY~*~ESCAPE~*~

9:15 PM

"That's horrible!" Xion exclaimed, walking along the rocky edge.

"Eh. I guess I just have to get over it. One of these days…" he sighed wishfully.

"No. Superman's the one out of line! Way out of line. I thought he was supposed to be the leader of the Justice League!"

"Leader?"

"I don't know, that's just how everyone perceives him to be. But he doesn't sound as benevolent as everyone says. He's…he's…opposite of benevolent?"

"Malevolent?"

"Yeah, that!"

"Haha," okay. That was a miracle in it of itself. She made Superboy laugh, "You might want to stop walking along that. You could fall and hurt yourself."

"I'll be fine."

"Okay…but don't say I didn't warn you."

"Alright. But what about Batman, he sounds nice. I choose him."

"What? You think Batman should be the leader of the Justice League?"

"Yup." She nodded decisively with a childish grin.

"If so, you can say goodbye to constantly pranking Robin."

"Well, I wouldn't want you to miss out on that…What about Martian Manhunter? He sounds cool. And his niece is…M'gann…so I guess you'd get along well with him."

"I've only seen Martian Manhunter a hand full of times." His nose wrinkled in disgust, "And last time I saw him, he sent me to school."

"What about Black Canary?"

"Oh, Jiminy Cricket, no."

"Haha, Green Arrow then?"

"Eh. That'd make for a testier Artemis."

"F – you know, what. I'm not even going to say it."

"Haha, good. I want to spare you the details on him."

"Well, Red Tornado's definitely out of the picture…Could you possibly make it so that Batman doesn't know you pranked Robin?"

"I think we're surreptitious enough to pull something like that off." He smiled. Her foot was making its way back to the path that paced in front of Superboy, but one of the rocks was over turned and she lost her balance. Sailing through the air, she was surprised by a gust of wind and two pairs of strong arms. He picked her up and held her in his lap.

"That's it. I thought I could let you roam around on your own, but I guess you need to be kept under closer security." She squirmed a bit in surprise, but Superboy didn't let her go. So she stayed in his arms.

~*~BE~*~MY~*~ESCAPE~*~

9:09 PM

_Here, he's injured._ Robin handed off the blonde boy to M'gann _Do you think you can do anything?_

_We're going to have to go back._

_But Mocking Jay's still in there!_

_We need to get her out._

'_Kay, KF, go and get her._

_On it Boss Sir! _He did a mock salute then ran for the apartment complex.

_All this fighting must be terrible for the real estate market. _They could vaguely hear as he vanished.

~*~BE~*~MY~*~ESCAPE~*~

9:15 PM

"It's getting pretty late, Conner." Xion yawned. He picked her up and ran at speeds that bordered on Kid Flash's ability. He was surprised when he laid her down on the black couches. What had he just done? Was this another power Superman had that he was now gaining? He hoped there were more of them. Maybe he could fly soon, too.

"Thank you. For everything. I wish you…" her eyes stuttered closed, "and you're teammates…good…luck…" she finally closed her eyes and slept.

The bio-ship landed in the garage, he could hear it. He walked over to where it had already been put back into hibernation mode.

"How did the miss– who's that?" he pointed to the boy in Artemis's hands.

"He's injured, but–"

"No." Mocking Jay claimed, tears itching her voice, "We…"

~*~BE~*~MY~*~ESCAPE~*~

9:09 PM

The man with the gun had fled after realizing some of the other hostages had tried to escape. Lightning was fighting her with her pocket knife, making a good improv fight out of the matter. And her eyes flitted to the other blonde boy in the corner, with the same insignia fastened around his chest that tied together her cloak. She had to get him out of here. And his terrified eyes only made her slash harder. But there was a gust of air, a stroke of red and yellow that displaced sound with ungodly speeds.

~*~BE~*~MY~*~ESCAPE~*~

9:17 PM

"We…" she slowly walked to the threshold that over looked Xion, sleeping peacefully, "I…"

~*~BE~*~MY~*~ESCAPE~*~

9:09 PM

"No!" the cry ripped through her throat. Everything was moving so fast, but yet so still for her. She saw what the action meant. She was in Kid Flash's arms, being saved. But she didn't want to be saved. Those terrified eyes, as large as the moon, sparkling with fear. His limbs shaking from the mistreatment, coughs racking his body sputtered blood across the room. She really did not want to be saved. But the boy was growing farther and farther away. Crocodile tears slid down her face.

~*~BE~*~MY~*~ESCAPE~*~

9:17 PM

"I couldn't save him."

_AN:_

_So, reviews? That sounds delicious. And my little concoction of ConShi? It's about to get spicy! And yeah, I know, he's used his grappling hook in the series, but, eh. I was running low on argument ideas. And yeah, sorry-ness for the lateness of this. Last night FF was not cooperating and the two days before that I was at a sleepover, a tea, and a couple of my friends and me almost got kicked out of City Cafe & Bakery. Don't ask. And remember, the more you favorite and review, the more I write!_


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Excuse me? I _am_ DC comics.

_So, I decided to play around with flashbacks, and a different sort of narration. Feel free to critique. Without flames, my lava lamp would look pretty stupid. _

Chapter IV: Nothing Without You

Villain. When the word is spoken, the way it rolls off the tongue, and the references we register it with, all seem to be connected with someone in a flamboyant get up who decided to challenge a beloved protagonist. They generically cheat and steal, fight and plunder. They throw dirt and they don't play fair. They're a terrible existence, to say the very least. But what is it that turns someone on that path of malice? Normally, it's vain volitions. Money, fame, power…lust. But what about the villains with _okay _intentions? Cruella DeVil wanted fur. Sylar wanted to be special. England wanted the head of the notorious pirate, Jack Sparrow. Why were they the antagonists? And Lightning – _Claire_, she was the victim. She had been wronged. She had been tricked. She was _suffering_. So why did he look at her like that? Like she was the Devil's right hand girl? Maybe it was because now she was. She cheated and stole, fought and plundered. She threw dirt and she didn't play fair.

Claire – _Lightning _was a terrible existence, to say the very least.

~*~NOTHING~*~WITHOUT~*~YOU~*~

"Dick!" Aqua called to the raven-haired boy, sitting on the campus's grassy yard.

"What's up?" he asked calmly, looking up from the pages of _Dante's Inferno _with torpid eyes.

"I kind of need help with Trig." She smiled and batted her eyes as she sat down next to him.

"You're in luck. I kind of need a sandwich." He stagnantly smiled.

"What?"

"You buy me a sandwich, I help you with Trig." He couldn't help but release a small yawn, that sounded more like a hiccup then anything else.

"Oh, come on!" she batted her eyes faster and put her head on his shoulder.

"Alright." He stood up, "New deal. I help you with Trig, and pay for some sandwiches if you can text my dad and tell him to pick me up later." He tossed the phone at her, then walked off in search of the closest Quiznos or Subway. Which ever one came first.

She took the phone, that was already set to the contact "Bruce" and started typing. She dragged her trigonometry book out of her leather over-the-shoulder messenger bag and opened to page 236. On her leg, the cellular device vibrated and threatened to spill over into the grass as "Here we are, going far, to save all that we love…" crackled out of the tiny speakers. She picked it up and the icon with a flipping mail envelope popped up along with _View now _and _View later_. She clicked on the top one.

_Bruce: Okay. But Alfred won't take you back to the house. You'll go straight to Mt. J. Mocking Jay is being taken off tonight's mission due to emotional immaturity. And yes, that does mean you have a mission. So will Superboy to fold down the fort._

She gaped at the message, but quickly put it down when she say Richard coming.

"Hey, hope you like turkey and cheddar!" he called, tossing the wrapped sandwich at her. And like the last time with the phone, she caught it perfectly.

"Thanks…"

"No problem." He dusted his hands off, "Now let's get to some Trig."

"Don't you want to finish your sandwich first?"

"Actually, I just kind of want it in my hand as a sort of security. I was planning on eating it later," he beamed, "But if you want to eat first, by all means, go ahead."

"No, that's okay. I really need to get this stuff down."

~*~NOTHING~*~WITHOUT~*~YOU~*~

Lightning walked into the awkward-filled room and propped up a chair silently. She eyed the boy chained to the chair.

"Did you just come back from Ventus's cell?"

She gave him a suspicious look, but slowly nodded.

"I can see the blood on your hands."

"I did what I had to do, Hope. You can't hold that against me."

"There're a lot of things I can't do. I can't get out of these chains, or take you on even if I did, or drive a car to get away in, or maybe even forgive you. But I surely can hold this," he rattled the iron barrier, "against you."

"But you don't understand!"

"Boy, does that sound like an old one. If you came here to apologize, don't bother. If you came here to maybe clear up some things, go right ahead. No one's stopping you."

"Ra's is." She hissed, close to his ear. His emerald orbs seemed unfazed.

"So?"

"So? So?" she banged a fist on the chair.

"_What do you want with him?"_

"_Little Missy, I'd stay out of this if I where you"_

"_Too late," she seethed, brandishing her pocket knife._

"_Oh, it's hardly too late." Another man came behind them, his arm around a girl's neck._

"_No – Serah!" _

"Do you know what he'd do to me – do to you, if he found out about this?"

"It's not him you're worried about, is it?" his eyes softened and he curtly looked genuinely concerned, but he quickly turned away and released an angry grunt.

"You still haven't told me why you're even here."

"I'm here for you. I want you to know, that if things had gone the way I wanted, both of you would be safe."

"Don't apologize. You can beat me, make a fool of me, hand me over to the worst man on the planet, even feed me to sharks, if you want. But you can't make me forgive you. It'll never happen."

"But–but–"

"Please, just leave me alone."

"_What are you doing to them?"_

"_Sure ask a lot of questions, you putrid girl." He slashed at her. She blocked each of his attacks and landed some of her own. After a few minutes he was left on his knees panting._

"_What…are you?"_

"But Hope!"

"_Answer my question first." He smiled and cackled. _

"_The secret will die with me," he looked up and her and spat blood as a man from behind finished the job, "Princess…"were the last words he muttered before the man took the blade out of the silver-haired corpse. There was so much blood, so much _thick_, dark, blood. So much of the vile liquid, and the words resounded._

"_Princess…"_

"I don't…"

"_Come with me," the man reached out a hand, "I can get you to safety." She didn't take the man's hand. She shied away, released an abysmal cry, then ran like a banshee. The man persisted, but to no avail. He shook his head and left. _

She looked at him more intently, hoping that the next few words out of his mouth wasn't an ultimatum.

_She didn't move for several hours. Until another man came._

"_Come with me," Ra's Al Ghul gave a cryptically sadistic smile, "I can help you get revenge." She took his hand, and her fate was sealed._

"I just…"

_It was a week later, and she was reading the words on the epitaph several times over in the grassy graveyard. _

"_She's really gone." She whispered. There were tears in her eyes. She couldn't take it and ran from the gravesite. She ran from her dead sister. She ran from it all. _

"I don't get you, Claire." He whispered. There were tears in his eyes.

~*~NOTHING~*~WITHOUT~*~YOU~*~

She was using the stick-shift of the car to her best advantage, finagling the car through the busy intersection at God-speed. A little ditty came from the P.O'd cars as they honked and flicked off the driver responsible. Okay, she was ticked. But she couldn't afford to get a ticket. She couldn't afford to be stopped. It would waste too much time. But she wasn't thinking about what she couldn't afford at the moment, she was too busy honking her horn back and thinking of what could possibly be going on where she was headed. She was so dead. SO dead. They were supposed to be laying low, settling down, getting an ear for the place before they were supposed to strike. But she hadn't listened to her at all! She had stolen, not only her possession, but her pride and joy. And she was going to – well, she wasn't going to pay, and she really wasn't dead, but she sure was going to get a stern talking to! Did that sound weak? Uh. That's the problem with sibling trouble. It's hard to punish them, though they deserve it. Right now, she was just taking out all of the anger on not-so-innocent drivers.

~*~NOTHING~*~WITHOUT~*~YOU~*~

"Hey, Mocking Jay, you seen Bats? He was supposed to be here for the debriefing."

"Can't say that I have."

"Oh, and there's some girl here for you."

"What do you mean?" she took her legs off the coffee table and stopped fumbling with the yoyo in her hand.

"I'll let her in?" Robin offered. Mocking Jay slowly nodded. He opened the door and girl, a little taller than Mocking Jay, but still with the same mini-cloak she wore.

"Hey, you must be…?" Robin stuck out a hand. There was no reply, but she shook it curtly, then turned to Mocking Jay.

"Who's she?" asked Artemis.

"I don't know." Kaldur answered.

"Whoa, heard the cave door open," Wally sped in, "and I – my who's this?"

"Kaldur doesn't know." Superboy offered. Out of her messenger bag she pulled the same device Mocking Jay used and put it on.

"Please don't." MJ pleaded. She dialed the contraption to something. M'gann and Xion walked into the room.

"What on God's green EARTH do you think you're doing?" a digitally distorted voice rang with pure rage.

"I'm sorry!"

"What made you think you could come over here and–"

"Please, I know, just don't–"

"You steal from me, lie to me, and when things were finally starting to work – uh! Kairi, come on, we're going home."

"But–"

"You realize I can sue you for identity theft right?"

"It'd come out of your paycheck…"

"I still can't believe you broke into my room, stole my suit, then decided to parade around the city with the baby Justice League!"

"But–" she ripped the voice-changing device from her face and extracted the hood, letting the team, for the first time, see her syrupy red hair and dazzling blue eyes.

"No buts!"

"Ventus! We can't leave him!"

"You should've stuck to the plan! Now the JL's brats know!"

"Aqua!"

She took a deep breath and sighed. She turned to the members of Young Justice,

"I'm sorry, I stormed in here uninvited and such, then totally just–" she put a hand to her forehead, "I'm not normally like this, okay? And you shared my identity with them, Kairi."

"Just returning the favor…"  
She smiled, "Guess I deserved that. Anyways…" she gestured to Kairi, "This is my little sister, Kairi, I'm sorry for any trouble she's caused and," she pulled down her hood and extended a hand, "I'm Aqua Farron, the real Mocking Jay."

~*~NOTHING~*~WITHOUT~*~YOU~*~

So. What makes a hero a hero and a villain a villain? Where does this thin, blurred line lie? And what makes you turn from your path to walk down this road?

"_Come with me," Ra's Al Ghul gave a cryptically sadistic smile, "I can help you get revenge."_

Could it possibly be…a human want?

_AN:_

_DUN DUN. Yeah, this has probably passed the point of no return, so it must be staying in the crossover section. :D But that means you've got to review more! Sorry, chap is short, tomorrow's the Fourth of July. (Yeah, I'm American. Wish I was Canadian, but, hey, Pikachu's not a real boy so I guess that means we all lose. And yes, it is 4:00AM, thanks for asking. Wait, wouldn't that mean it _is _the Fourth of July right now? Actually, you can ignore all of what I just said. I'm still surprised I even wrote this decently. So forgive my misspellings? Please? Wait, is this still in parenthesis?) 'Kay, that's better. And yeah, Rob probably should've known better than to give his phone to some chic. You know what would be smart? To wait until morning when I'm sober (Drunk I am not! Tired? Oh, glob yes!) enough to edit this and make sure I didn't put some delirious nonsense in this chiz, (yes, I did just let Dan Schneider tell me what to say. MIND CONTROL! Like that, that was an example right there). But who said I was going to do the smart thing? Anyways, happy Fourth of July my fellow overweight, loud-mouthed Americans! And a Happy New Year! _

_Don't look at me like that. Why else would there have been fireworks four hours ago? _


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Let me answer your question with another question. No.

_So, so sorry I didn't update sooner. I'm a horrible person, as I'm sure most of you know. It feels like forever since I've updated this. Mostly because I've been working on Of Arrows, Science, and Acrobatics and a bunch of other crossover material that hasn't been published yet. In all actuality, it's probably been a week. So…yeah. Enjoy this and no one hate me! (Cause I AM evil…)_

Chapter V: The Thief

Aqua and Kairi were sitting in deep, thoughtful silence while the car whizzed past Happy Harbor and other places adjacent. Rain was falling loosely and erratically, the rain having some discordant rhythm that almost seemed to stop at one point and fell down in heavy sheets at another. The window wipers screeched softly, clearing away the haze only to have it appear once again. In the moistly clean air, Kairi's voice rang out, seeming punctual after the long silence, somehow, like it was planned.

"Are you really sending me back?"

"Back where?" Aqua calmly asked, despite her sister's worried and fragile voice.

"Before we got in the car…do you remember what you said?"

Her azure eyes widened in realization.

"_I swear, if you don't get in the car right __**now**__, I'm sending you back to the orphanage!"_ "We're going back home, Kiddo."

Kairi smiled a tad, but the worry and fright was still etched in her features.

"You must really like that boy."

"More than anything." She replied distantly.

"That bad, huh?"

"I wouldn't say it's bad…sure, it's made an impulsive mess out of me, but when he's safe…" she sighed dreamily, "…it'll be worth it."

"What," Aqua gulped, "– what if he –"

"Please don't say it. It's been permanently engraved into my mind, that thought. Whatever you do, don't say it."

It was quiet for some time, but Aqua anticipated that wouldn't be the last word on the subject.  
"You know what this means, right?" And she was right.

"What?"

"We're not alone anymore in this fight. We have a covert team that knows; they'll also be working on the case. I thought maybe we could work together, but…it's still nice to know we're not the only ones."

"Mocking Jay was something I did on the weekends to drag attention away from ourselves. Do you know how many people will be…" she stared at Kairi oddly, "…on…us…now…Kairi, is something wrong?"

Kairi's eyes had a dull glare in them, and she was reaching for the emblem that rested on her chest. Once her hand was on it, she pressed it there, gripping onto the object for dear life.

"Kairi? Kairi. Kairi!"

"It's Namine!" she sputtered, "She's – up to something, I'm getting some sort of read on her!"

~*~THE~*~THIEF~*~

Namine ran a hand across the smooth rock, its water covering sliding onto her hand as it caressed the hard surface. She could taste the saline humidity on her tongue and feel the fog rising up from the ground. Even though light, inconsistent rain drops drifted downward, she could still smell the fragrance of evaporation. Or at least, warm rain, maybe even mist. The wet grass spurred dew onto her sallow boots and particles of the briny residue stuck to the hair follicles on the bottom of her leg that wasn't covered by the boots that were now ruined, stained with mud. But she didn't mind getting dirty.

She didn't mind it at all.

A nostalgic smile rose to her thin lips as she recalled the times when she and Roxas would – no. She immediately shoved, pushed, and stomped the thought out of her mind so roughly it caused her grip on the straps of her bag to tighten and squeezed to the point that it could easily challenge the superiority of a Boa Constrictor's prowess. No.

No.

_No._

_No!_

**No! **

She couldn't think of him, it was – well, to say in a word, _unthinkable _to perform such a treacherous feat.

But the way he would kiss her forehead, and how after training he was the perfect kind of sweaty, and those blonde spikes of his, they were like radiant tendrils of the sun that were placed perfectly and in an edgy fashion, and those eyes of his that were so cerulean it put cerulean to shame, and, though it seemed too cliché to say aloud, every time she watched the commercial for Home Depot were if you brought in any object and asked for a color paint that matched, they could give it to you, she always thought it was impossible to have something that came even close to their magnitude. Oh, and how he would throw pebbles at her window when she wouldn't answer her phone, just to ask her if she wanted to head out somewhere for dinner, or to the park, or to the small beach he, and only he, knew the short cut to get to, or the bowling alley, or the skating rink, oh, with him the possibilities were endless…

And that's why she mustn't think of him. Because of the endless possibilities her mind would spur, the ones she would be stuck with, forced to ponder them over. It made her just want to rip her brain apart, axon by axon, so no synapses could make connections she herself didn't want to make. She had to focus, right now, she _needed _to focus, desperately. But every time she reminded herself of this, it only caused more stress and frustration.

But she walked on, her hand still cascading the rocks, cutting through the sheets of rain that was left after the light rain had stopped. She was feeling the tiny groves of the rock, every little variance that jutted out or was thrust inwardly, causing an indention. She needed to feel it, to feel that cool metal that was lodged somewhere in between these seemingly normal, naturally-formed pile of rocks. And finally, her cold hand brushed upon something that, if possible, was even colder than she was. She pressed it in and the earth tore apart beneath her feet robotically, like it was trained – built to do that. With tiny clangs she made her way down the deescalated, metallic platform.

~*~THE~*~THIEF~*~

Okay, Superboy was becoming acutely aware of two things that bothered him. One, Megan's attraction to him. Two, his attraction to Xion. It was outrageous how much he thought of her, and how much Megan thought of him. Now he (never having any relationship experience, mind you) didn't know what to do. His heart melted around the raven-haired girl, while he melted the vermillion-haired girl's heart. Why was this so frustrating? And he sure didn't want to deal with his feelings. He wanted to punch something. Hard. When he asked Robin what he should do, he suggested a pros and cons list, to help him figure out which one to go with. So he did. Make, the list, that is. The one he was looking over now.

**Pros and Cons: Megan**

**Pros**

***She likes me**

***She's sweet**

***I've known her longer than I've known any other girl**

***We're both extraterrestrials, so we both share the problem of trying to fit in**

***She saved my mind **

**Cons**

***She burns cookies**

***She sings in the shower. Really. Really. Loud. **

***She doesn't get me**

***I'm just eye-candy for her**

***She's mean to Xion behind my back**

***She uses telepathy to eavesdrop. I've heard her a few times**

**Pros and Cons: Xion **

**Pros**

***She gets me**

***She doesn't just tolerate the fact I came from Cadmus, she likes me because of it**

***She's nice around Megan, even looks up to her despite the way she treats her**

***She knows how to make me laugh**

***When I'm with her, she makes me feel like maybe I'm not a complete reject**

***Somehow, she disperses my anger issues with her smile**

***I don't have to pretend around her. I can be real. Well, as real as a clone can be.**

***Look at me, I'm forming longer sentences just when I talk about her**

***She does that freaky answer-a-question-with-perfect-memorized-explanation thing that I find myself doing at school**

***She's the only one who doesn't ignore how Superman treats me**

***Actually, not only does she not ignore it, she agrees with me**

***She finishes my sentences, sometimes she knows what I'm going to say before I do**

***When I feel her smooth hand in mine, there's a divine flutter of butterflies in my chest**

***She's got me saying romantic crap like what that last line said**

***She's the only one who hasn't laughed at the "SUPERBOY SMASH!" jokes**

***She calls me Conner, never Superboy, or Supes, or Supey, like some of my teammates. **

***Is anyone skipping this list?**

***If so you're getting the Vulcan death grip the next time you step foot in a movie theater, bowling alley, or skating rink. Mark me. **

***Actually, I really don't care**

***Spock, however, does…**

***This is so unprofessional, I really need to stop breaking the fourth wall. **

***She can bake amazing cookies**

***She's really small, and when I hold her in my arms, though she's so delicate, it's not like that one time I picked Robin up when he was taking to long, talking to Wally in front of my door; I don't feel the normal sensation of anticipating I'm going to crush whatever's in my grasp**

***See, I never would've formed that kind of a sentence before she came along**

***She's all I can think about**

***I love her**

**Cons**

***I've only known her for barely a week**

***She makes Megan act mean, which is weird because Megan normally never does that**

***…**

***…**

***Robin's stupid, how am I supposed to figure this out if I can't make an even list!**

His eyes ran across it for the last time before Wally knocked on his door.

"Hey, Supes, debriefing time, we're headed on a mission."

~*~THE~*~THIEF~*~

"I don't understand! Batman was here a minute ago!"

"No, that was Black Canary!"

"Black Canary? That was definitely Red Tornado!"

The debriefing room was a loud mess of mangled voices and incoherent, or lost, words. But a metallic voice tore through the air, silencing the young heroes.

_**Recognized, Mocking Jay B08**_

They all turned expectantly to the transporter, or dubbed my Wally the "Scottie Machine." There was a blast of light, but no one physically materialized. In fact, there was no proof it even happened, aside from the disembodied cackles of laughter.

"Rob, quit it."

"That's not me…"

"Who's there?" Superboy barked angrily. Out of the shadows stepped Xion and a blonde girl, who almost resembled her in an odd way. The blonde girl punched Xion, and grabbed her shoulders, throwing her to the ground. Superboy shouted and ran to the blonde girl, pinning her to the ground and punching her repetitively.

"What are you doing?" the girl asked in alarm and surprise and…was that a hint of betrayal? No, not a hint it was evident. She sounded hurt by what he was doing.

"You hurt Xion!"

"What?" she shook her head, "But I _am_ Xion."

"No you're not!"

"She's trying to mess with you, Superboy, don't listen to her"

"Don't do this, you know me!"

"She's lying!"

"Please!"

"She's obviously just trying to get into your head, please, take her out!' Superboy muttered something, then punched the blonde girl in the face, causing her to lose consciousness rather quickly. He then turned to Xion and embraced her.

But the embrace only lasted a second, because he sent her spiraling back with a punch to the stomach before she could wrap her arms back around him. She turned herself over and scurried away from the debris of the concrete she was knocked into, propping herself up against another, unscathed wall. With amusement in her eyes as she panted, she smiled,

"How did you know?"

"Xion never calls me Superboy. I'm always Conner to her."

"Hmm, how cute. You picked the princess over the witch." She sarcastically sneered as her and Xion switched appearances, "I'm guessing you told her to act like she was knocked out to fool me?"

"…No. I punched her in the face…But that does sound smarter."

"Well," she sighed, standing up and supporting her perceptibly broken rib cage as she did so, "let's just make this short and sweet. I need to borrow your bio-ship."

"Why should we let you?"

"Because there'd be less blood that way."

_Megan!_

_Xion? I thought you were knocked out? How did you summon this telepathic–_

_It doesn't matter, you just have to trust me on this one, the girl's a non-combatant. She can't fight. I know why she need to bio-ship. She wants to go and find Roxas, but we have him here. Trust me, she means no trouble, she just wants her friend and she doesn't know you're the good guys._

_If I do what you say…you have to stop hanging out with Superboy._

_But, I like Conner!_

_I got that. _She telepathically snorted.

_Then why do you want me away from him?_

_I could give her the bio-ship and send her on her merry way…_

_Why are you doing this?_

_Because. On Earth I only have one thing to call my own. And that's Superboy. _

_Conner! _Xion corrected.

_You know who gave him that name? Me. You have no right to use it! Now, I'll do what you say, just promise me that._

_Fine. I promise. _

_Good. Now let me handle this…_

Xion smiled inwardly. Megan had no idea Conner was in on the link…

_AN:_

_Okay. ConShi? It's heating up, but, don't worry it gets spicier…Mwhaha._

_GAH. Thank you reviewers for making my day. :3 Love you all. And yes, I see those of you who fave and alert. Why can't you review? Someone give me a long one, tell me what you liked, tell me what you disliked, tell me something you want to see more of, or something that you never want to see again EVER. As long as you're sincere, I'll be happy. So…make my day again? And remember, those of you have read Teenage Rebellion, the AN at the end of chapter one? That system still applies here, so, yes, this could be discontinued at any moment. It is in jeopardy. So review! (thank you BlackMarionette for being an awesome reviewer, you're still my favorite!) :P _


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